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A JOLLY 
JINGLErBOOK 




5 - ***> 




Safe Bathing 








THE PLIMPTON -PRESS 
NORWOOD-MASS US A 



©CI.A358435 

1U 




TO 

MY MOTHER 
































ACKNOWLEDGMENT 

The verses which are not here printed for 
the first time are reprinted by the courtesy of 
The Youth* s Companion , St. Nicholas, The 
Congregationalist, Wellspring ^ Mayflower, 
The Mother's Magazine, and a few other peri- 
odicals. In a few cases, the magazines in 
which the verses originally appeared are not 
now published, as the Wide Awake and some 
others. From all, at some time, permission 
has been received, and is here gratefully ac- 
knowledged. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

A Jolly Book 3 

The Story Book 4 

Mr. Tongue 6 

The Circus Parade 7 

The Birthday 9 

The Christmas Tree 10 

Baby’s Playthings 1 1 

The Brownies 12 

A Pocket Menagerie 15 

The Month of May 17 

In the Dark 19 

Her Name 20 

The Game of Going-to-Bed 22 

Her Own Way 25 

A Dutch Wish 26 

The Evergreen Tree 29 

A Bath-Tub Joke 31 

An Outdoor Girl 32 

Who’s Afraid? 35 

The Ball 36 

The Scarecrow 39 




• • - v , 


% 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The Star 41 

The Bedtime Story Book 42 

The Difference 45 

When It Rains 47 

Kisses 51 

Hallow-e’en 52 

The Mowing Field 53 

A Big Playfellow 54 

Safe Bathing 57 

In Haying Time 58 

The Songs of the Clocks 61 

Nap Time 62 

Secrets 65 

To Sweeten It 69 

A Christmas “Telephone” 71 

A Lost Baby 73 

Nobody 75 

Somebody Did It 79 

Old Christmas 81 

A Borrowed Sermon 85 

A Touch of Nature .... .... 89 



sk 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Frost Fires 91 

A Little April Fool 92 

The Dame-School 95 

Whistling in the Rain 9 7 

Chums 101 

My Picture-Books 104 

Sympathy 106 

Signs of Spring 109 

A Spring Song in 

On the Road to School 112 

The Brook 115 

The Meadow Nest 117 

A Summer Holiday 119 

A Sign of Spring 121 

A Lesson in Natural History . . . .123 

The Sleeping Trees 124 




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Safe Bathing Frontispiece 

PAGE 

Bad Luck and Good Luck Brownies 13 

The Game of Going to Bed 23 

The Dutch Wish 27 

An Outdoor Girl . . . . 33 

The Ball 37 

The Bedtime Story Book 43 

When it Rains 49 

A Big Playfellow 55 

Haying-time 59 

Nap-time 63 

Secrets 67 

Nobody 77 

Old Christmas 83 

A Borrowed Sermon 87 

A Little April Fool 93 

Whistling in the Rain 99 

Sympathy io 7 

On the Road to School II 3 







A JOLLY 
JINGLE-BOOK 





/ 


* 





















I 







A JOLLY BOOK 


H OW can they put in black and white 
What little children think at night, 
When lights are out and prayers are 
said, 

And you are all tucked up in bed? 

Such funny dreams go dancing through 
Your head, of things nobody knew, 

Or saw, or ever half believes ! — 

They’re all inside these singing leaves. 

And little children laugh and go 
A-ring-a-round-a-rosy-0 ; 

And birds sing gay — you’d almost think 
You listened to a bobolink. 

Look at the pictures, one by one ! 

The rhymes are only half the fun. 

It laughs and bubbles like a brook — 

My pretty, jolly jingle-book! 


[ 3 ] 


THE STORY-BOOK 


u XT’s all full of lions and old grizzly- 
bears, 

And tigers and elephants, too! 

And lots of things never was seen anywheres 
But just in the Ark or the Zoo ! 


“There’s kitties and doggies and dear little 
mice, 

And little girls playing — just look ! 

I guess by the time I have read it through 
twice 

I can say it right off of the book ! 


“There’s rhymes about fairies and brownies 
and such, 

With queer little pictures in black ; 

And dear little children with shoes that are 
Dutch 

Go clickety-clackety-clack 

[ 4 ] 


THE STORY-BOOK 

“All over the pages — beginning to end !— 
It’s all just abrim with their tricks. 

Oh, wasn’t my auntie just lovely to send 
This book for the day I was six !” 


M 


MR. TONGUE 




A LITTLE red man in a little red 
house 

With gates of ivory! 

He might stay there, as still as a mouse, 
And nobody could see ; 

But talk he will, and laugh he will, 

At everything you do; 

And come to the door and peep, until 
I know his name — don’t you? 



a 


THE CIRCUS PARADE 

O H, see them come ! Can you hear the 
drum? 

Do you hear the animals cry? 

Hear the music ring, see the baton swing 
As the column marches by! 

In a long, long line come the chariots fine, 
With the “king of beasts” inside; 

Hear the howl of rage from the gilded cage 
Where the Bengal tigers ride. 

Are you keeping count? There’s any 
amount 

A-coming over the hill ! 

If you took a peep and slept for a week — 

I b’lieve they’d be coming still ! 

[ 7 ] 


THE JOLLY JINGLE-BOOK 

Oh, see them come! Can you hear the 
drum? 

Do you hear the animals cry? 

Hear the music ring, see the baton swing 
As the column marches by ! 


[ 8 ] 



THE BIRTHDAY 

B RING the birthday-marker! 
That’s the way to show 
How much I’ve been growing 
Since a year ago. 

All my last year’s dresses 
Are too short for me ; 

This one — with the tucks out — 
Only to my knee ! 


Grandpa rubs his glasses; 

Whispers, “Yes, indeed! 
How that child is growing — 
Growing like a weed !” 


Mother’s word is sweetest : 

“Yes, in sun and shower 
She’s been growing, growing, 
Growing like a flower !” 


[ 9 ] 




THE CHRISTMAS TREE 

S HINE, shine, over the snow, 

Tree with the lights aglow! 

Warm the world with your merry fire ; 
Bless the poor with their heart’s desire — 
Tree with the lights aglow! 

Gleam, gleam, merrily now, 

Tree of the beckoning bough! 

Anywhere that a child is seen, 

Beckon him with your fingers green — 

Tree of the bending bough! 



BABY’S PLAYTHINGS 


T EN cunning little playthings 
He never is without — 

His little wiggle-waggle toes 
That carry him about. 

They look so soft and pinky, 

And good enough to eat ! 

How lucky that the little toes 
Are fastened to his feet! 

Ten little pinky playthings 
He cannot eat or lose; 

Except when Nursey hides them all 
In little socks and shoes. 


[n] 


THE BROWNIES 


T HE little Bad Luck Brownies, 

They cry and pout and frown; 
They pucker up a crying-mouth, 
And pull the corners down ; 

They blot the smile from every face 
And hush the happy song — 

The little Bad Luck Brownies 
That make the world go wrong ! 

The little Good Luck Brownies, 

They sing and laugh and shout ; 

If any cloud of trouble comes, 

They turn it inside out 
To show the silver lining 
That’s always, always there, — 

The little Good Luck Brownies 
That make the world so fair ! 




I l ’ \ \s» > 

J Bad Luck and Good Luck Brownies 












A POCKET MENAGERIE 


A N elephant, a mooley-cow, a headless 
horse or two, 

A tall giraffe without a neck, a leg- 
less kangaroo ; 

A squirrel whose long, bushy tail is nothing 
but a stump ; 

A camel whose once hubbly back shows not a 
single hump ; 

A lion with three legs instead of four, as 
usual, 

And other beasts that stand the best lined up 
against the wall ; 

A tiger with an ear chewed off ; a rabbit and a 

pig; 

A perky-nosed rhinoceros about two inches 
big; 


[ 15 ] 



A JOLLY JINGLE-BOOK 

And every one without some part that once 
belonged to him — 

An ear, a tail, a head, a hump- — not one but 
lacks a limb ! 

The reason any one can see; they’re what the 
baby calls 

His “Pocket-size Menagerie of Cracker Ani- 
mals” ! 





THE MONTH OF MAY 

I T comes just after April, 

And right before ’tis June; 

And every bird that’s singing 
Has this same lovely tune : 

You needn’t ask your mother 
To let you go and play; 

The very breezes whisper, 

“You may! You may! You may!” 

There are no frosts to freeze you, 

And no fierce winds to blow ; 

But winds that seem like kisses, 

So soft and sweet and slow; 


[ 17 ] 





The lovely sun is shining 
’Most every single day. 

Of course you may go out, dears — 
It is the month of “May” ! 



IN THE DARK 


T HERE are sweet eyes looking at you 
In the dark; 

Large and bright, or small and tiny 
As a spark; 

Though they shine so far and high, 

They seem near you where you lie, 

Counting every starry eye, 

In the dark. 

There are sweet eyes come a-smiling 
In the dark; 

And the room is full of whispers, 

If you hark. 

When you have been good all day, 

Come the Good Thoughts, glad and gay, 

As you go to sleep and say, 

“Thank you, Dark !” 


[ 19 ] 


HER NAME 


“T’M LOSTED! Could you find me, 

1 please?” 

Poor little frightened baby ! 

The wind had tossed her golden fleece ; 

The stones had scratched her dimpled knees; 
I stooped and lifted her with ease, 

And softly whispered, “Maybe; 

Tell me your name, my little maid — 

I can’t find you without it.” 

“My name is Shiny-eyes,” she said. 

“Yes, but your last?” She shook her head. 
“Up to my house they never said 
A single ’fing about it!” 

“But, dear,” I said, “what is your name?” 
“Why, di’n’t you hear me told you? 


[ 20 ] 


HER NAME 


Dust Shiny-eyes !” A bright thought came. 
“Yes, when you’re good; but when they 
blame 

You, little one — it’s not the same 
When mother has to scold you?” 

“My mother never scolds !” she moans, 

A little blush ensuing; 

“ ’Cept when I’ve been a-frowing stones, 
And then she says (the culprit owns) , 
‘Mehitabel Sapphira Jones, 

What has you been a-doing!’ ” 


[ 21 ] 


THE GAME OF GOING-TO-BED 


S AYS father, when the lamps are lit, 
“Now just five minutes you may sit 
Down-stairs, and then away you go 
To play a little game I know !” 

He gives a kiss and pulls a curl : 

“Let’s play you were my little girl, 

And play you jump up on my back, 

And play we run !” And clackity-clack, 

We both go laughing up the stair ! 

(If I should fuss he’d say “No fair!”) 
And then he says, “Night, Sleepyhead.” 
It’s fun, the game of Going-to-Bed. 


[ 22 ] 





c Tke Game of Going-to-Bed 



[ 23 ] 





HER OWN WAY 




W HEN Polly goes into the parlor to 
play, 

She never minds what the little 
notes say, 

Nor peeps at a music-book; 

“I play by ear,” says the little dear 
(When some of us think the music’s queer) , 
“So why should I need to look 1 ?” 

When Polly goes into the kitchen to cook, 
She never looks at a cookery-book, 

Nor a sign of a recipe; 

It’s a dot of this and a dab of that, 

And a twirl of the wrist and a pinch and a 
pat — 

“I cook by hand,” says she. 



A DUTCH WISH 


T HE little Dutch children, 
With little Dutch shoes, 
Go clittery-clatter 
Wherever they choose. 

But we must move lightly, 

In slippers, at that, 

And walk on our tip-toes, 

And go like a cat. 

But, oh, noise is lovely! 

We wish very much 
That we were Dutch children 
With shoes that were Dutch. 


[26] 



[ 27 ] 




THE EVERGREEN TREE 

H O, for the grace of the evergreen tree ! 

It blooms when the summer is 
gone; 

Merry are we though the winds blow free 
^ And the icy storm is on. 

Happy and gay are we, — 

Faces alight with glee; 

Christmas is here and the time o’ the year 
For the gifts of the evergreen tree. 

Ho, for the gifts of the evergreen tree ! 

They gleam on the bending bough. 

What will it be — oh, what will it be 
That the year will bring us now? 

[ 29 ] 


A JOLLY JINGLE-BOOK 

Grateful and glad are we ; 

Christmas brings joy and glee; 

He who was born on Christmas morn 
Gives the joy of the evergreen tree. 

Ho, for the joy of the evergreen tree ! 

By a million children glad, 

Treasured shall be thy sweet memory 
When the world is cold or sad. 

Sing of the Christmas tree; 

Sing of His love so free 
Who sendeth delight on Christmas night 
And the joy of the evergreen tree. 


[ 30 ] 


A BATH-TUB JOKE 

C LEAN and sweet from head to feet 
Is Jerry, but not his twin. 

“Now for the other!” says merry 
mother, 

And quickly dips him in. 

Jim and Jerry, with lips of cherry, 

And eyes of the selfsame blue; 

Twins to a speckle, yes, even a freckle — 
What can a mother do? 

They wink and wriggle and laugh and 
giggle— 

A joke on mother is nice ! 

“We played a joke,” — ’twas Jimmie who 
spoke, — 

“And you’ve washed the same boy twice !” 

[ 31 ] 


AN OUTDOOR GIRL 


T HE wind and the water and a merry 
little girl — 

Her yellow hair a-blowing and her 
curls all out of curl, 

Her lips as red as cherries and her cheeks like 
any rose, 

And she laughs to see the little waves come 
curling round her toes. 

The breezes a-blowing and the blue sky over- 
head, 

A laughing little maiden, — and this is what 
she said: 

“Oh, what’s the use of houses ? I think it is a 
sin 

To take a lot of boards and bricks and shut 
the outdoors in !” 

[ 32 ] 



An Outdoor Girl 


t 




WHO’S AFRAID? 


W INTER, I hear you shouting, 
You big old bug-a-boo ! 

I’ll fling the door wide open, 
For who’s afraid of you 1 ? 

We like your frosty kisses ! 

Red as the reddest rose 
They paint our cheeks. Who’s caring 
About his tingling toes? 

Come whistling at the window 
And puffing at the door. 

You’re just a jolly playmate; 

We wish you’d come before. 


■ 


[ 35 ] 


THE BALL 


C LOSE cuddled in my own two hands, 
My big round ball with yellow 
bands ! 

They’ve filled my playroom up with toys — 
Dolls, horses, things to make a noise. 

Engines that clatter on a track, 

And tip-carts that let down the back; 

Arks, just like Noah’s, with two and two 
Of every animal he knew ; 

Whole rows of houses built of blocks, 

A mouse that squeaks, a doll that talks ; 

But when the Sleepy Man comes by 
And I’m too tired to want to try 
To think of anything at all, 

Here’s my old, dear old, rubber ball. 

Close cuddled in my own two hands, 

My big round ball with vellow bands. 

[ 36 ] 



tfhe Ball 


















THE SCARECROW 


H E doesn’t wander up and down 
And hoarsely call all day, 

“O’ clo’! O’ clo’ !” This old- 
clothes man 
Has not a word to say 

He stands so stiff among the corn, 

His one stiff arm stuck out, 

And points a musket at the crows 
That circle all about. 

He doesn’t tramp the dusty streets, 

Nor travel, ankle-deep, 

Through mud and slush, but quiet stands 
Where baby corn-cobs sleep. 


[ 39 ] 


A JOLLY JINGLE-BOOK 

He’s such a funny old-clothes man ! 

I wonder if it’s hard 
To stand, amid the growing corn 
All summer long on guard. 


[ 40 ] 


THE STAR 


W HEN mother shuts the nursery door 
And takes away the light, 

She gently kisses me once more 
And says again, “Good night,” 

And lifts the curtain till I see 
The lamp God lighted up for me. 

My little star-lamp is but one 
Of millions in the sky, 

Because each child, when day is done, 

Needs one as much as I ; 

So all the boys and girls there are 
Can each one have his lighted star. 


[ 41 ] 



THE BEDTIME STORY-BOOK 

T HERE’S something very, very queer 
About a story-book, 

No matter what’s the time of year, 
Nor where you chance to look; 


8 


No matter when it is begun, 

How many pages read, 

The very best of all the fun 
Comes just the time for bed, 

When mother whispers in your ear : 

“ ’Tis almost eight — just look! 
Now finish up your chapter, dear, 
And put away your book.” 

The minutes almost seem to race 
When it is growing late ; 

The very most exciting place 
Is just half after eight. 



The Bedtime Story-Book 


[ 43 ] 



I 


THE DIFFERENCE 


OREHEADS all a-pucker, 

Eyes that snap and frown, 
Lips where crosspatch brownies 
Pull the corners down. 

Look in all the places 
Where the,grumbles go, 

And the children’s faces 
Look just so! 

Foreheads smooth and sunny, 
Dimples peeping out, 

Lips that never, never 
Pucker in a pout, — 


[ 45 ] 


A JOLLY JINGLE-BOOK 

In such pleasant places 
Happiness can stay; 

And the children’s faces 
Look this way ! 


[ 46 ] 


WHEN IT RAINS 

W E don’t mind rainy days a bit, my 
brother Ted and I; 

There’s such a lot of games to play 
before it comes blue sky. 
Sometimes we play I’m Mrs. Noah, and 
Ted’s Methusalem! 

f I put him in his little box and hand his little 
drum 

(There has to be some way, you see, to let the 
Ark-folks know 

That Father Noah expects them all, and 
where they are to go) ; 

And then they come by twos and twos, and 
twos and twos and twos, 

Till trotting with them ’cross the floor ’most 
wears out my new shoes. 


[ 47 ] 



A JOLLY JINGLE-BOOK 


They all go in, and when it’s time, we let the 
flood begin; 

The rainier it rains the more we like it stay- 
ing in. 


[ 48 ] 



When It Rains 








KISSES 


* * TT ERE’S a kiss for every year, 

1 j[ And here is one to grow on 
Father says and mother says 
And auntie says, and so on. 

“Here’s a pat and there’s a pat !” 

If growing comes of kisses, 

I know how one girl found a way 
To grow as big as this is! 


HALLOW-E’EN 


W HEN the merry mummers go 
With their peaked hats a-row 

When the grinning pumpkin shows 
Fire at eyes and mouth and nose ; — 

When the children, laughing free, 

Bob for apples rosily; — 

Revel-master for the night, 

Laughing at each luckless wight, 

Merry, madcap Hallow-e’en 
Bids October shift the scene. 


[ 52 ] 


THE MOWING-FIELD 



UEEN ANNE has spread her laces 
On the edge of the mowing-field; 
“You mustn’t come in!” the farmer 
says, 

While his men their long knives wield; 
“You are fine and dainty, I have no doubt; 
But you and your tribe will please keep out !” 

The ox-eye daisies daring — 

There are hundreds over the wall ! 

“Off with their heads !” the farmer says, 

“I have often warned them all.” 

And each golden head, with its frilly cap 
Lies limp and still in the meadow’s lap. 




A BIG PLAYFELLOW 


I T’S lots of fun down in the grass, 
A-watching all the things that pass ! 
You won’t come too? I wonder why 
It’s fun a-playing with the sky! 

I guess you are too tall to see ; 

If you would come down here with me, 
And just ungrow a little, you 
Could see just what you wanted to. 

Such big cloud-ships with sails spread out 
To catch the breeze that’s all about! 

And big gray birds with soft cloud- wings, 
And wolves and bears and tiger things ! 

Just lying down here in the grass, 

I’ve seen about a million pass; 

They creep and run and sail and fly — 

It’s fun a-playing with the sky ! 






» 


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Playfellow 


[55] 





Q 


SAFE BATHING 

T HE water’s fine, Isay! Oh, run! 
Just every one of you — it’s fun ! 
There’s not a single shark around — 
No whales nor eels ! You won’t be drowned 
At all ! See how far in I go ! 

I’ve wetted every single toe. 

No alligators — not a sign ! 

Oh, come on in — the water’s fine ! 



IN HAYING-TIME 

I N haying time my grandpa says 
I’m lots of use to him; 

I take my nice new wheelbarrow 
And fill it to the brim ; 

The big team comes out, too, and takes 
The haycocks one by one ; 

And that and my new wheelbarrow 
Soon get the haying done. 


[ 58 ] 


n ^HAYING-TIME 


la hayiag-tnae irvy^raadpa says 
l m lots of vise to Kira; 

I take nvy aice aew wheelbarrow 
aad fill it to the trim; 
\e b^g team comes o\it, too.aad 
takes tkekay-cocks oaebyoae, 
jpad that aad aew wkeelkarrow 

sooa^et thehayiag doae. 






[ 59 ] 




THE SONGS OF THE CLOCKS 


66 ICK-A-TICK and tick-a-tock!” 



Sings the little parlor clock. 
“Ticker-ticker, ticker-ticker !” 


Cries the Kitchen Clock. “Go quicker ! 
Meal-times never are quite ready, — 
Here come hungry Tad and Freddy !” 

“'Ti-ick- tock ! ti-ick- tock !” 

Drawls the old Grandfather Clock, 

In the hallway by the door, 

Where a hundred years or more 
It has told the minutes slow 
F or — a — girl — who — hates — to — sew. 
(That’s the way it sounds — just so !) 


[61] 


NAP-TIME 


R OCK-A-BYEme! Rock-a-bye me ! 
I’m just as tired as tired can be. 

We’ve swung and swung as high as 
the sky, 

Then slower to let the “old cat die” ; 

We played we were grasshoppers — hippity- 
hop 

The grasshoppers go, and they never stop ; 
And then we played kangaroo — just look! — 
The way they do in the picture-book. 

And then — I want to get on your knee ! 
Rock-a-bye me ! Rock-a-bye me ! 


NAP- 
TIME 



ir: 


a - bye me ! Mock -a - Bye rr\e ! 
][Yr\just as tired as JLceux. be. 

^Weve sw\ji\g ar\d swvirvg as KigK as the sky, 
"'Xkerv. slower, to let tRe ' old cat die;” 

"^IPi played we were grasskoppers-kippity-Rop 
grasshoppers go, ar\d they aever stop; 
J^rvd tRerv we played karxgaroo -just look, 
'TTke way tkey do ii\ ike picture-book! 
^i\d tRea *l[wai\t to get oa your ki\ee! 
ck-a-bye rr\e* Jt,ocR-a-bye nr\e! 



F Li iLY*vown&» 


[ 63 ] 
















I 





* 












SECRETS 


I KNOW a man that’s big and tall, 
With glasses on his nose, 

And canes and shiny hats and all 
Such grown-up things as those ; 

But we have secrets I won’t tell ! 

Here in the nursery, 

Before they ring the dinner-bell, 

He’s just a boy like me. 

He comes home from the office, where 
They think he’s just a man 
The same as they are, with his hair 
All slick and spick and span. 

Oh, don’t I make it in a mess ! 

It makes us scream for joy. 

“Sh — sh!” he says, “they mustn’t guess 
I’m nothing but a boy !” 


[ 65 ] 




And sometimes when the doorbell rings, 
The girl knocks at the door. 

“An’ is the doctor in?” she sings, 

A dozen times or more. 

“Good-by, old man !” he says. “That bell 
Means business. Here’s your toy !” 

And off he goes. I’ll never tell 
He’s nothing but a boy. 







Secrets 


























































































































tk 



TO SWEETEN IT 

HE baby eats his bread and milk 
And laughs out loud in glee ; 
For every other time he dips 
His spoon, it is for me. 

“To eat it all yourself,” he says, 

“It isn’t nice a bit — 

You have to give somebody else 
A taste, to sweeten it!” 

A little miser sits alone; 

His smile is sad to see ; 

Wants all the playthings, shares his own 
With nobody — not he ! 


E 


!0 



A JOLLY JINGLE-BOOK 

Sullen and sad, the little lad 
Will all day sighing sit, 

He’d better give somebody else 
A taste — “to sweeten it!” 


A CHRISTMAS “TELEPHONE 1 


T TLLO, Mr. Santa! Ullo! Ullo! 
CJ Ullo! 

It must be ’most to Christmas, and 
I think you ought to know 
About the things we’re needing most — of 
course I’d like a doll, 

And Jimmy wants a rocking-horse, and 
Charlie wants a ball. 


“And all of us would like a lot of striped 
candy sticks 

(There’s just six boys and girls of us — be 
sure to make it six) , 

And gum-drops; and oh, if you could, some 
red-and-white gibraltars ! 

I had some once, and half was mine, and half 
of them was Walter’s. 


[71] 



>3 


A JOLLY JINGLE-BOOK 

“But, dear old Santa, don’t forget, whatever 
you leave out, 

To put in some surprises that we never 
thought about ; 

For in the whole long stocking, clear down 
into the toe, 

The presents that are nicest are the ones you 
didn’t know.” 


9 


A LOST BABY 


B ABY’S hidden all away! 
Nobody can find her! 
Where’s the baby, mamma? 
Let’s go look behind her ! 

Baby? No, she isn’t there — 
Have we lost our baby? 

Let’s go hunting down the stair, 
There we’ll find her, maybe. 

Papa’s lost his little girl ! 

What will he do for kisses? 
What is this? A yellow curl? 
And please to say what this is 


A JOLLY JINGLE-BOOK 

Inside my coat ! “I ’ ant some breff! 

It makes me almost ' oasted ! 

Next time don't smovver me to deff — 
Let's play aden I'm lostedl" 


NOBODY 


“N OBOD Y b’oke it ! It cracked it- 

It was clear ’way up on the top- 
pest shelf. 

I — p’rhaps the kitty-cat knows!” 

Says poor little Ned, 

With his ears as red 
As the heart of a damask rose. 

"Nobody lost it. I carefully 
Put my cap just where it ought to be 
(No, ’tisn’t ahind the door) , 

And it went and hid, 

Why, of course it did, 

For I’ve hunted an hour or more.” 


A JOLLY JINGLE-BOOK 

“ Nobody tore it! You know things will 
Tear if you’re sitting just stock stone still ! 
I was just jumping over the fence — 
There’s some spikes on top, 

And you have to drop 
Before you can half commence.” 

Nobody ! Wicked Sir N obody ! 

Playing such tricks on my children three ! 
If I but set eyes on you, 

You should find what you’ve lost ! — 
But that, to my cost, 

I never am like to do ! 


[76] 



Nobody 


[ 77 ] 






H UNTING, hunting, high and low, 

Where do the caps and “tammies” 
go? 



Ned’s — he hung it, he knows he did, 

Right on a nail, and it went and hid ! 

Rob’s — “Well, mother, I’m almost sure 
I hung it” — “Right on the parlor floor?” 

“ Where is my ‘Tam’?” cried Margery; 

And the household echoes, “Where can it 
be?” 


“Somebody does it!” Yes, they do! 

And not a person to “lay things to !” 

Ned will sputter and Rob complain, 

And Margery weeps till it looks like rain ; 
And the family puts its glasses on 
And hunts and hunts till the day is gone ; 


[ 79 ] 




A JOLLY JINGLE-BOOK 

Somebody ! wicked old Somebody ! 

No end of trouble you make for me. 


Hunting, hunting, here and there ! 

Rob’s was under the Morris-chair ; 

Ned’s, by a strange coincidence, 

Was on a nail — of the garden fence; 

And Margery’s little pink Tam-o’-shanter 
I chanced to spy in a morning saunter 
Out through the barn, where ’tis wont to hide 
When they’ve been having a “hay-mow 
slide.” 




OLD CHRISTMAS 



i LD Christmas comes 
With frozen thumbs, 

It His long beard white with snow ; 

’Tis right good cheer 
His knock to hear, 

And grief to have him go. 

His round old face 
Has a ruddy grace, 

And he wears a cheerful grin; 
And a merry snatch 
He trolls at the latch, 

For he knows we’ll let him in. 


Old hearts grow young 
With his merry tongue — 

Both heart and purse are wide ; 
The hungry poor 
Find open door 
At the happy Christmas-tide. 

[81] 





A JOLLY JINGLE-BOOK 

The children dance, 

And the babies prance, 

For the tiniest toddler knows 
’Tis a world of drums 
And dolls and plums, 

Where the jolly old pilgrim goes. 




Old Christmas 


[ 83 ] 
























































, 























































































A BORROWED SERMON 

B LACK MAMMY bends over her tub ; 
She cheerily rinses and wrings ; 

And merrily suits to that gay rub-a- 
dub 

The words of the song that she sings : 

“A little less rinsing may pass; 

A little less rubbing may do; 

But yo’ on' y takes or' nary pains to yo’ wuk, 
To’ wuk will be or’ nary, tool” 

Alas for the work that one meets! — 

The sermons, and speeches, and songs, 

The shams and deceits in the shops and the 
streets 

Where this little sermon belongs. 



A JOLLY JINGLE-BOOK 


To whom, then, her song may concern 
(My boy and my girl, is it you*?) : 

If you only take “or* nary” pains with your 

work, 

T our work will be “or* nary” too. 


[ 86 ] 


•»« 



A Borrowed Sermon 


[87] 





A TOUCH OF NATURE 


A LITTLE maid upon my knee 
Sighs wearily, sighs wearily; 
“I’m tired out of dressin’ dolls, 
And havin’ stories read,” says she. 

“There is a book, if I could see, 

I should be happy, puffickly! 

My mamma keeps it on a shelf — 

‘But that you cannot have,’ says she!” 

“But here’s your Old Man of the Sea, 
And Jack the Giant !” (Lovingly 
I tried the little maid to soothe.) 

“The interestin' one,” says she, 


[89] 




FROST FIRES 


L OOK! look! look! 

The woods are all afire ! 
See ! see ! see ! 

Aflame are bush and brier ! 
The trees are all unhurt, I know — 
Oak, maple, elm and all — 

But, oh, they all seem burning up 
In red fires of the fall ! 


[ 91 ] 


A LITTLE APRIL FOOL 


O NE day in the midst 

Of an April shower. 
This dear little girl 
Was missed for an hour. 

And under the trees 
And over the grass, 

We all went hunting 
The little lost lass. 

We found her at last 
Where two walls met, 
A-looking naughty 
And a-dripping wet. 

“I was April-fooling,” 

She softly said; 

And down she dropped 
A shamed little head. 


[ 92 ] 



A Little April Fool 


[ 93 ] 


\ 










THE DAME-SCHOOL 


’ TITH frown and with ferule 
V She holds her stern rule ; 

With voice all a-tinkle, 

And face all a- twinkle, 

And never a wrinkle, 

She keeps a “dame-school.” 

“Now ‘a — b’, my children!” 

She says with a tap ; 

But her dimples belie her; 

You wish you could buy her, 

Cap, kerchief, and tier. 

To hold in your lap. 

“My stollars act d’edful ! 

Dey don’t try to not!” 

Her dread ferule waving, 

[ 95 ] 



A JOLLY JINGLE-BOOK 

She says she’ll go raving 
If papa keeps ’having 
The worst of the lot. 

But who thinks of minding 
A little schoolma’am 
As sweet as a posy, 

So dimpled and rosy, 

You just want to cosy 
Her close in your arm? 




WHISTLING IN THE RAIN 



W HISTLE, whistle, up the road, 

And whistle, whistle down the 
lane! 

That’s the laddie takes my heart, 
A-whistling in the rain. 

Winter wind may whistle too — 
That’s a comrade gay! 

Naught that any wind can do 
Drives his cheer away. 


Whistle, whistle, sun or storm ; 

And whistle, whistle, warm or cold ! 
Underneath his ragged coat 
There beats a heart of gold. 

He will keep a courage high, 
Bear the battle’s brunt; 

Let the coward whine and cry! — 
His the soldier’s front. 

[ 97 ] 



i 


A JOLLY JINGLE-BOOK 

Shoes, I know, are out at toe, 

And rags and patches at the knee ; 

He whistles still his merry tune, 

For not a fig cares he. 

Whistle, whistle, up the road, 
Whistle, whistle, down the lane! 
That’s the laddie for my love, 
Whistling in the rain. 




Whistling in the Rain 


[99] 







CHUMS 


tf 

W E’RE chums, and we love it — dear 
father and I ! 

He’s tall and grown-up, of course 
— ever so high ! 

But you don’t mind that, though you’re little 
as me; 

He always stoops down, or you sit on his 
knee 

When you’re chums. 

We go for long walks — he says, “Now for a 
hike!”— 

With beautiful talks about things that I 
like; 

Some folks do not care about beetles and 
toads 


[ 101 ] 


A JOLLY JINGLE-BOOK 


And little green snakes that you find in the 
roads, 

But we’re chums. 

Sometimes mother gets into trouble with me ; 

She tells him about it, and he says, “I see !” 

His arm gets around me, and pretty soon, 
then, 

I’m telling him I’ll never do it again, 

’Cause we’re chums. 

We tell all our secrets, and when things go 
bad 

And worry-lines come in his face, I look glad 


[ 102 ] 






MY PICTURE-BOOKS 

M Y mother says that every day 
I’m making picture-books ; 
They’re all about my work and 
play, 

But no one ever looks. 


I’m all the one that ever turns 
These pages, dark or bright ; 

And, like a lamp, each picture burns 
The clearest when ’tis night. 




Sleigh-rides and Christmas trees and all 
The lovely winter fun, 

And picnics under pine-trees tall — 

I see them every one ! 


[104] 




And mother says each picture caught, 

That nobody can see, 

Is nothing but my happy-thought 
That lives inside of me. 

She says: “Good night, now, Sleepy-eyes! 
I’ll turn the light down low, 



SYMPATHY 



OMETIMES the world’s asleep so soon, 


j When all the winds are still, 

That I can see the little moon 
Come peeping o’er the hill. 

It looks so small and scared and white, 
The way I feel in bed 
When I have just put out the light 
And covered up my head. 

It half seems wishing it had stayed, 
And half creeps softly out. 

“Dear moon,” I say, “don’t be afraid ! 
No bogies are about.” 


[106] 



Sympathy 


[107] 







✓ 





/ 







SIGNS OF SPRING 

OTHERS mending pockets, 
Sisters trying to sew, 

Lest the “taws” and “glassies 1 
Through the corners go; 
Swarming all the sidewalks, 
Big round “bunnies” deep, 
Where the rolling marbles 
Swift to cover creep. 




Little hived-up dollies 
Out to take the air; 
Merry hoops a-rolling 
Zigzag, here and there ; 





A JOLLY JINGLE-BOOK 


Children saying “Pepper” 
Fast as rope can swing; 
By these signs of springtime 
You may know ’tis spring. 




0 


o 


A SPRING SONG 

UT in the woods, 

Where the wild birds sing, 
It is all alive 
With the happy spring. 

It gets in my feet, 

And the first I know 
They are dancing-glad, 

And away they go. 

I race with the brook 
Till my breath is gone, 

And it laughs at me 
As it races on. 

I rock with the trees, 

And I sway and swing, 

And make believe 
I am part of the spring. 



ON THE ROAD TO SCHOOL 


N EVER a ribbon or curl, 

Ruffle nor ring nor lace, — 

A dear little country girl 
With a dear little sun-kissed face. 

Freckles on cheek and chin, 

One on her little nose ! 

But nobody cares a pin, 

For she’s sweet as a roadside rose. 

Fresh and dewy and sweet, 

Never a rose so fair! — 

My girl of the dancing feet 
And the sunny, wind-blown hair. 


[112] 



[H3] 


On the Road to School 

























. 









THE BROOK 


T HE trees are white as Christmas, 
And gay the carpet green, 

With dewy webs of lace at morn 
Where fairy folk have been ; 
But oh, the rill’s sweet laughter 
As it goes leaping by ! 

It is a little runaway, 

As free and glad as I. 

The violets in purple, 

The cowslips all in gold, 

With all their friends have come in troops 
May festival to hold ; 

But oh, my little brooklet, 

When you come dancing by, 

[ 115 ] 


A JOLLY JINGLE-BOOK 

I laugh, for here's a runaway, 

As free and glad as I ! 

The soft white clouds go sailing 
Through seas of summer joy; 
The whole world keeps a holiday 
For every girl and boy; 

But best I love your laughter, 
Dear brook, as you go by — 
You’re just a happy runaway, 

As f refe and glad as I ! 


16] 





THE MEADOW NEST 

I T was round, it was brown, it was hidden 
in the grass, 

And you never would have found it, 
just happening to pass; 

But sweet Molly, in a minute, saw the cun- 
ning babies in it, — 

Down the field the mowers coming made her 
scream, poor little lass ! 

On they came, the careless riders, through 
the bending grasses green ; 

Molly’s eyes with fear grew wider, lest the 
nest should not be seen ! 

’Twas so tiny and so hidden, and they would 
not stop when bidden, 

Though she held aloft her baby hands, the 
little nest to screen. 

[ 117 ] 




A JOLLY JINGLE-BOOK 

Then a happy thought came swiftly to the 
little curly head : 

“Nobody would touch the banner of our 
country, grandpa said !” 

In a flash, the small feet, flying, to the farm- 
house near are hieing; 

Next — the Stars and Stripes triumphant 
wave among the clovers red. 

Low the clover-tops are lying, all their crim- 
son turning brown ; 

On a sudden shouts the mower, forehead 
wrinkling to a frown. 

Guarded by the banner splendid, see the 
little nest defended! 

Round it go the trampling horses — who 
could ride the old Flag down ? 


[ns] 



A SUMMER HOLIDAY 



C AN you guess where I have been ? 

On the hillsides fresh and green ! 

Out where all the winds are blowing, 
Where the free, bright streamlet’s flowing 
Leap and laugh and race and run 
Like a child that’s full of fun ! — 

Crinkle, crinkle through the meadows, 
Hiding in the woodland shadows ; 

Making here and there a pool 
In some leafy covert cool 
For the Lady Birch to see 
Just how fair and sweet is she. 

Can you guess where I have been? 

By a brook where willows lean; 

With a book whereon to look, 

In some little shady nook, 

[1193 




A JOLLY JINGLE-BOOK 

If that I should weary grow 
Of that lovelier book I know 
Whose sweet leaves the wind is turning — 
Full of lessons for my learning. 

There are little songs to hear 
If you bend a listening ear; 

And no printed book can be 
Half so dear and sweet to me. 




A SIGN OF SPRING 

T HE blue-bird is a-wing ; he has heard 
the call of spring; 

And a dozen times this morning I 
have heard a robin sing ; 

But I know a sign that’s surer, and I see the 
twinkling feet 

Of a score of little children at the corner of 
the street. 

The crocus-bed’s abloom; in the shadow of 
my room 

Glows a vase of golden jonquils like a star 
amid the gloom; 

But the sign that’s sure and certain is the 
children’s merry feet 

Dancing round the organ-grinder at the cor- 
ner of the street. 

[ 121 ] 



0 


A JOLLY JINGLE-BOOK 

Song of bird or hum of bee, there’s no sign of 
spring for me 

Like the jolly little dancers and the frolic 
melody; 

And my heart shall catch the rhythm of the 
happy little feet 

Dancing round the organ-grinder at the cor- 
ner of the street. 



A LESSON IN NATURAL HISTORY 

( *\ T OW who can tell,” the teacher 
1\| said, 

“Who the five members be 
(The one who knows may go to the head) 
Of the cat family?” 

“I guess I know as much as that,” 

Cried the youngest child in glee ; 

“The father cat and the mother cat, 

And the baby kittens three !” 


[123] 


THE SLEEPING TREES 


I KNOW how the apple-tree went to 
sleep ! 

Its fluttering leaves were so tired of 
play! — 

Like frolicsome children when dusk grows 
deep, 

And mother says “Come!” and they gladly 
creep 

To knee and to nest at the end of day. 

Its work was all done and it longed to rest; 
The reddening apples dropped softly 
down; 

The leaves fell in heaps to the brown earth’s 
breast; 


[124] 


THE SLEEPING TREES 


And then, of a sudden, its limbs were dressed 
(The better to sleep) in a soft white gown. 

The maples and beeches and oaks and all — 
When summer was over, each cool green 
tent 

Seemed suddenly turned to a banquet hall, 

Pavilions with banners, a flaming wall ! 

And then all was gone and their glory < 
spent. 

Then quickly the sky shook her blankets out, 
And robes that were softer than wool to 
don 

She gave all her children, the winds to 
flout — 

I wish I knew what they are dreaming about, 
So quiet and still with their white gowns 


[ 125 ] 


NOV 28 1913 



\ 









